CHRISTIAN AHUIS CONSULTING
Continuously refined since 1997
Not a poem
*1977
*loves red
*wears a hat
*rollercoaster!
*hotels analyst
Always hear both sides of the story!
Christian's motto since 1993!
It all started in 1998 when I was asked to help develop a dark ride for World EXPO 2000 in Hanover, Germany. Still a student but passionate about theme parks and roller coasters, my first client, facts & fiction, was sure I was the right person to support their project.
The ride was one of the most loved attractions at the expo, and it belonged to one of three pavilions with the highest capacity! Maybe Japan could need some help after their Expo 2020 Dubai experience. :-)
With that Expo project, it went off - like a roller coaster released on the top of the lift hill... I still studied social sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen, but that project made me hungry for more.
To make it short:
Also, in 1998, I was asked to start as an editor for the magazine Kirmes & Park Revue, which I did for about three years. My first interview as an editor was with Mr. von Landsberg-Velen from Germany's biggest Holiday Resort, Schloss Dankern. I could not have dreamed that I would work for Schloss Dankern some years later.
Also, in 1998, I partnered with Frank Hinrichs as Leisure Consulting - my first official company.
In cooperation with Net-Up, we implemented the very first online ticket system for amusement parks, at least in Europe - we still believe it is worldwide and are still waiting for someone to prove us wrong. It was installed with Warner Bros. Movie World Germany, today known as Movie Park Germany.
Being the first with something we believed in was just sometimes a good business case. Those days, Europa Park was not convinced that a website Frank did for Warner Bros. Movie World and Six Flags Europe was something they should also invest money in. Success or failure with our ideas and products was a question of the generation in the lead of some potential clients.
Also, our approach around 2000 to sell waterless urinals was not listened to by any amusement park we talked to. Nowadays, online tickets, websites, and waterless urinals are widespread worldwide.
Together with facts & fiction and Norbert Altenhöner, I started the first web-based news website about theme parks around 1999. Erlebniswelten.de was bilingual, and we had the most influential owners and management staff of theme parks and manufacturers as our readers.
2000 marked the most memorable year for my work ever since. Besides the successful Expo 2000 ride opening, I was asked by Sascha Budde, Michael Badelt, and Jens Scheberg to join their European Coaster Video project. The idea was to produce high-quality videos about Europe's most impressive roller coasters and sell them worldwide as a VHS - and later DVD. My job was to convince the park owners about the video production and get approval to film the rides during opening hours. Please note: GoPros and YouTube were unknown that days, so our biggest challenge was to mount a professional camera safely on all these different coaster trains!
The final product was named European Coaster Thrills and was a huge success - and also the starting point for what I still do today with movemotions production:
Worldwide professional video and photo productions for various leisure destinations, rides, spas, resorts, roller coasters, and more.
At the end of 2000, Frank and I were in charge of selling the Expo's dark ride to someone. A deadline was approaching when everything needed to be gone in the Expo area.
In those days, within weeks, we sold the ride to Gottlieb Löffelhardt, the owner of Phantasialand and Mirabilandia.
2001 Petra Probst wanted to found her own magazine about the amusement industry and asked me if I wanted to be on the team from the very first day. So, Euro Amusement Professional was a big part of my work days until 2015. I travelled even more worldwide and visited many amusement parks, trade shows, conferences, and association meetings yearly.
2002 Oscar Bruch Jr. asked me to support his newly opened Centro.PARK. For the next five years, I worked at his amusement park, which was located next to Europe's biggest shopping and entertainment centre, Centro in Oberhausen.
2007, I started to work with Friedhelm von Landsberg-Velen, the owner of Schloss Dankern, Germany's biggest holiday resort, as a spokesperson.
When Oscar Bruch ended his lease contract for Centro.PARK in 2011, I was asked by the owner of the CentrO shopping centre, who owned the park, to find a new operator. I convinced Merlin Entertainments to take over the park, and they also placed the Legoland Discovery Center in a small part of the former amusement park.
As a consequence of the growing demand for ride and attractions videos, which came in from roller coaster suppliers since our release of the DVD European Coaster Thrills, I founded movemotions in 2012: A professional media agency just for amusement parks, water parks and suppliers of rides and attractions all over the world.
Until today, we have produced professional emotional videos for many of the leading ride and attraction manufacturers and theme and water parks worldwide.
Browsing through our long list of references, I still can't believe this all started in 2000 with four guys considering selling a VHS about Europe's best roller coasters.
By the way, the first company to pay us to produce a video about its newest coaster is still our client. Thank you, Vekoma Rides, for trusting us for many years!
My experience with so many different rides and roller coasters worldwide was also the reason I worked and supported Karls, the most unusual theme park operator worldwide.
Implementing the first big ride for one of Karls's theme parks started in 2016 as a project manager for the coaster known as K2.
Today, I am a brand ambassador for Karls upcoming new park in Oberhausen, Germany.
Unibail Rodamco Westfield, Waterland Private Equity Investments, and some other clients I can not talk about keeping me busy even during the COVID-19 years.
All clients are treated with passion, dedication, and knowledge. If you want to work with me, I am also happy to tell our story here!